Aston Villa rookie Enda Stevens has pleaded for the chance to continue his Premier League adventure at Manchester City this weekend to again test himself against the best.

Stevens impressed on his full top-flight debut last Saturday, but was critical of himself for switching off for Manchester United’s last-gasp winner in the 3-2 defeat.

Eric Lichaj is available again following a one-match ban, while Joe Bennett is understood to be making good progress with the knee wound that sidelined him against United.

But Stevens hopes to have done enough to convince manager Paul Lambert to give him another start against Roberto Mancini’s reigning champions at the Etihad Stadium.

Having come up against Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Antonio Valencia, Stevens is now relishing the challenge of David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko.

“I’m hoping to keep my place, I’ve got confidence,” said Stevens, who got his first taste of top-flight action a week earlier as a substitute in the win at Sunderland.

“I’ll go into training and train well and hopefully I’ll stay in the team for Manchester City.

“I’ve trained with the first team every day since I’ve been here. This debut has been a long time coming, but when you get your chance you’ve got to take it.

“If we play like we did against Manchester United there’s no reason why we can’t get a result against Manchester City. It’s a great experience, it brings out the best in you. You know where you stand when you play against the best.”

Stevens, who was still playing for Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland a year ago, felt he should have done better with United’s third goal when he lost scorer Javier Hernandez.

And the 22-year-old left-back admits it was a painful example of the high standards he must maintain if he wants to become a regular at Villa.

“It’s a massive experience but I’m just looking to kick on,” he said.

“It was my fault for the third goal because I didn’t quite track his run and he got there ahead of me.

“The highlight for me was just playing, being on the pitch for Aston Villa against Man United in front of a 40,000 crowd. Everything about it.

“But to play at this level you’ve got to be focused for 90 minutes and I switched off, so I’m gutted at the fact I conceded a goal.

“It’s not taken the gloss off making my debut but I’m still devastated we lost the game. You’ve got to maintain focus all the way through against top, top opposition.”

Stevens reckons the friendly rivalry of competing with Lichaj, Bennett and Nathan Baker for a left-back spot has taken his game to a new level since he signed for £100,000 in January.

“We’re all the best of friends, me and Eric are really close, I have a lot of time for Eric, he helped me out massively when I first came over here,” he added.

“Joe’s come in and we’ve bonded a bit, he’s a bit of a quiet lad. We all go out and play golf together.

“That’s what the gaffer wants, he wants competition because that brings the best out in players. Me last season or two seasons ago to now has totally changed.”